A BILL to amend the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, by
adding thereto a new section, designated §5-1E-6 relating to
creating the “West Virginia Winner” program within the Office
of Healthy Lifestyles; providing for local government entities
to submit bids to host various athletic and cultural events;
declaring who may participate; and establishing participation
fees.

Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:

That the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, be amended
by adding thereto and new section, designated §5-1E-6, to read as
follows:

ARTICLE 1E. HEALTHY WEST VIRGINIA PROGRAM.

§5-1E-6. Additional powers and duties of the office; establishment
of the West Virginia Winner program for athletic and cultural
events.

(a) In addition to the powers and authority conferred upon the
Office of Healthy Lifestyles by the provisions of section three of
this article, the Office of Healthy Lifestyles shall establish a
program of specific athletic and cultural events to be known as
“West Virginia Winner” to promote healthy living and improve life
style and increase longevity of West Virginia residents by
competing in various athletic and cultural events.

(b) The program will include a plan for competitive bidding by
local government entities to host athletic and cultural events for
state residents that may be held throughout the state. The athletic
events may include, but not be limited to, any of the following
participatory athletic events: bowling, tennis, archery, swimming,
track and field events, bocce, road bowling, volleyball, three-on-three basketball and golf. The cultural events may include, but
not be limited to, dancing, poetry composition and reading,
singing, painting and sculpting, academic and historical events,
mathematic competitions, chess, checkers, spelling bees and
contests, video games and shooting matches.

(1) The Office of Healthy Lifestyles shall notify all county
commissions and municipalities in the state about the program,
including the specific events for bid to host and the type of venue
required for the event.

(2) The local government entity may submit a proposal and bid
to the Office of Healthy Lifestyles and Governor's office to host
a specific athletic or cultural event or events. Bid proposals
should include categories of participantion for the event, such as
age divisions, if applicable, and open or individual, small
business, corporate, collegiate, and fraternal organization or non-profit team divisions. A proposal to host an event may include
regional athletic or cultural qualifiers to be held prior to the
primary event proposed, with the winners of each regional qualifier
competing at the primary event. Other counties or municipalities
that did not submit winning bids or bids at all may be used as
regional hosts. Local government entities submitting bids to host
an event may enlist the assistance of other groups, such as local
parks and recreation commissions, public schools and colleges and
universities in a bid proposal.

(3) Bids shall be opened by the Office of Healthy Lifestyles
on July 1, and must be submitted on or before January 1 of the
following year, for events to be held during that year. The Office
of Healthy Lifestyles shall notify the local government entity with
the winning bid of the event or events the entity will host. The
local government entity will then remit the bid amount to the
Office of Healthy Lifestyles to be deposited in the Healthy
Lifestyles Fund created under section five of this article. The
Office of Healthy Lifestyles shall use the bid proceeds to
publicize the event. The local government entity hosting the event
is responsible for costs such as trophies or prizes, officiating
and judges, and any venue rental costs. The hosting entity may
solicit donations, hold fundraisers, or apply for grants to assist
with the costs of hosting the event.

(c) Each participant shall pay to the Office of Healthy
Lifestyles a fee to participate in each event. The fees may be
collected by the hosting local government entity and remitted to
the Office of Healthy Lifestyles to be deposited in the Healthy
Lifestyles Fund. The participation fee schedule is as follows: (1)
individual or open division, $10 per person; (2) corporate division
(more than two hundred fifty employees), $1,000 per team; (3)
small-business division (two-hundred fifty or fewer employees),
$200 per team; (4) collegiate (sponsored by an instate college or
university) division, $1,000; and (5) fraternal organization/non-profit division, $125 per team.